Using examples from Poland, El¿bieta Dr¿¿kiewicz explores the question of why states become donors and individuals decide to share their wealth with others through foreign aid. She comes to the conclusion that the concept of foreign aid requires the establishment of a specific moral economy which links national ideologies and local cultures of charitable giving with broader ideas about the global political economy. It is through these processes that faith in foreign aid interventions as a solution to global issues is generated. The book also explores the relationship linking a state institution with its NGO partners, as well as international players such as the EU or OECD.

Elzbieta Drazkiewicz is currently a lecturer at Maynooth University in Ireland. She has worked with several Polish development NGOs, as well as with the Solidarity Fund and the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and its Department of Development Cooperation. Her work has appeared in such journals as Human Organization, Focaal, Critique of Anthropology, and Social and Cultural Geography.

Introduction

Chapter 1. From Recipient to Donor
Chapter 2. To the West through the East and Back
Chapter 3. Global Education: Discovering Africa for Polish Aid
Chapter 4. Moral Economy of Foreign aid: Religion and Institutions
Chapter 5. The Mission
Chapter 6. Vocation, Profession or Private Enterprise
Chapter 7. The System - The Hope for the Better Future

Conclusion: Institutionalised Dreams

Index